ESA Awards New Contract To Continue Developing PILOT Lunar Landing System

Airbus Defense and Space, the world’s second largest space company, and the European Space Agency (ESA), have signed a contract for the early development of a system that will ensure the safe and precise landing of the Russian Luna-Resource lunar lander.

Will Conduct Training At The Naval Air Warfare Center - Weapons Division

Lockheed Martin has been awarded a 5-year, single award indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract with a ceiling value of $424 million by the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center - Weapons Division to support the Aircrew Electronic Warfare Tactical Training Range (AEWTTR) program in Ridgecrest, CA. The company will provide tactical training products and services for Navy pilot training through development of threat radar emitter simulators and other target/threat peripheral equipment.

Will Increase The Canadian Carrier's Fleet To 45 Of The Type

Calgary (Canada)-based WestJet Encore Ltd. has signed a firm order for nine Q400 turboprops. The transaction is a conversion of options booked by the airline's parent company WestJet and will increase WestJet Encore's fleet to 45 Q400 aircraft.

Payloads Finished Ahead Of Schedule As Aireon Continues Towards 2018 Service Operations

Aireon LLC, developer of the world's first space-based global air traffic surveillance service has announced that Harris Corporation finished production on all Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) 1090 Extended Squitter receiver payloads that will enable its global air traffic surveillance service. The 81 ADS-B payloads were completed ahead of schedule and represent the largest implementation of a hosted payload solution ever achieved.

Combines Schools In Germany, Switzerland, And The U.S.

Lufthansa Group Flight Schools in Germany, Switzerland, and the U.S. are combining their activities under the European Flight Academy (EFA) umbrella.

Financial Awards To Be Presented To 33 Students At June Conference

The NBAA has announced the 33 recipients of the 2016 Flight Attendants/Flight Technicians Scholarship. These individuals will be recognized during NBAA’s Flight Attendants/Flight Technicians Conference, which takes place from June 21 to 23 in Delray Beach, FL.

Contracts Include IndiGo, CityJet And China's Shenzhen Airlines

Building on the demand of commercial airlines for more professional pilots, CAE has announced new and extended cadet training agreements.

Deployment Follows Year-Long Collaboration Between The Airline And The Planemaker

Delta Air Lines has become the launch customer for Airbus’ “Prognostics and Risk Management” solution following a successful year-long collaboration between the Airbus and the airline. The web-based application is part of the Smarter Fleet ‘big data’ solutions platform developed by Airbus in partnership with IBM.

First Integration And Evaluation Of Due Regard Radar Aboard Customer Aircraft

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has announced the successful operational testing of a Detect and Avoid (DAA) system including GA-ASI’s Due Regard Radar (DRR) aboard a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Guardian Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), a maritime variant of GA-ASI’s Predator B RPA. The DAA system also includes Honeywell’s Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) and Sensor Tracker, specifically designed for DAA.

Event Planned In The Flying Display Area For The Cosford Air Show

Rules imposed by the U.K. CAA following the accident at the Shoreham Air Show last year are causing a problem for the Albrighton Cricket Club, which may have to cancel its biggest fundraising event of the year.

Goal Of Collaboration Is Improving Agriculture With Crop-Specific Satellite Images

Bayer and the aerospace technology company Planetary Resources, based in Redmond, WA have signed a memorandum of understanding about the development of applications and products based on satellite images. Bayer intends to purchase these data from Planetary Resources to create new agricultural products and improve existing ones.

Key Componants Of DNA And Cell Membranes Found On The Body

Ingredients regarded as crucial for the origin of life on Earth have been discovered at the comet that ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft has been probing for almost two years. They include the amino acid glycine, which is commonly found in proteins, and phosphorus, a key component of DNA and cell membranes.

NOT Your Father's SuperCub -- CubCrafters Is Introducing Its New FAA Type Certificated XCub

Big News! CubCrafters says their new Certified XCub is lighter, faster and stronger than any aircraft in its category. They also say it provides a larger payload and greater range which results in a much wider mission profile.

Can You Put Dynon’s EFIS-D10A In Your Airplane?

While at Sun ‘n Fun 2016, ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell, talked with Dynon Avionics president, Robert Hamilton, to get the details about something that is a game changer. Dynon is well known in the experimental aircraft and light sport aircraft community for supplying avionics that do not require an FAA STC for installation.

Facility Based In Tulsa, OK

Hartzell Propeller Inc. has appointed Intercontinental Jet Service Corp. as a Recommended Service Facility. Based in Oklahoma at Tulsa International Airport, Intercontinental Jet Service's Propeller Shop provides overhaul and repair services for the central plains.  

Aerial Photographers Invited To Submit 360-Degree Photos

The aerial photography community SkyPixel has launched the 360-degree Panorama Contest in conjunction with DJI. Users are invited to submit their 360-degree world view, as taken from the air. Within 10 days, over 700 submissions of 360-degree aerial panoramas have been received from around the world.  

Flew Nearly 19 Miles Over Yolo County, CA

A wingsuit flier may have set a new world record over the Memorial Day weekend with an 18.8-mile flight over Yolo County in north-central California.

Klyde Introduces A New Term To The Aviation World

FMI: www.klydemorris.com

Boeing P-12B Model Will Be On Display Through Labor Day

The Academy of Model Aeronautics is thrilled to announce a new exhibit at the National Model Aviation Museum that will be on display Memorial Day through Labor Day 2016. Bill Chaffee’s Boeing P-12B will be exhibited thanks to a loan from Ellen Earle-Chaffee, Henry Chaffee, and Clark Chaffee.  

Also: Archer DX Diesel, Aero-Journalism, FAA Reauthorization, Predator B, Airbus, A320neo Cert, Thermal Bag, Drone Investment Index

A Blue Angels F/A-18 has gone down during a practice session in Smyrna, TN resulting in the fatal injury of the pilot of the aircraft. The accident occurred on the same day that an Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 went down in Colorado. Vertical lift drones being flown by unknowledgeable hobbyists have occasionally caused problems to the point of frustration for some -- though not nearly as much as many media sources might suggest. However, in a recently publishe

The Effort Will Support The Opening Of Their First, Original Exhibit, Entitled FLIGHT

The Leonardo has announced the launch of its first crowdfunding campaign in support of their new, completely original exhibit, FLIGHT. The exhibit, which opens August 2016, marks the first time The Leonardo is building an original exhibit of this scale, wholly unique to Utah.

At Least One Committee Zeroed Out The Controversial Aerostat

It looks like the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) program will not make the cut in the coming year's defense budget.

Aero Linx: Lancair Owners and Builders Organization (LOBO) LOBO’s Code of Conduct is based on the Aviators Model Code of Conduct. Having a code of conduct benefits Lancair pilots and the Lancair community by: Highlighting important practices to make Lancair pilots better, safer aviators Promoting improved pilot training, better airmanship, appropriate pilot conduct, personal responsibility, and pilot contributions to the Lancair community, the GA community and the public at large Encouraging the development and adoption of good judgement and ethical behavior Advancing self-regulation through the Lancair and GA communities as an alternati

Contaminated Runway A runway is considered contaminated whenever standing water, ice, snow, slush, frost in any form, heavy rubber, or other substances are present. A runway is contaminated with respect to rubber deposits or other friction-degrading substances when the average friction value for any 500-foot segment of the runway within the ALD fails below the recommended minimum friction level and the average friction value in the adjacent 500-foot segments falls below the maintenance planning friction level.

"Six years ago I imagined a Part 23 certified Carbon Cub. Our development team set out to design a Cub with terrific STOL capabilities, like our Carbon Cub LSA, but one that could travel faster and farther, while easily accommodating all of the gear that a pilot and passenger might want to carry for an extended journey. Now, after receiving Type Certification from FAA, I’m proud to say that XCub is much, much more than I had even hoped it would be.” Source: Jim Richmond, CubCrafters’ CEO, following the annnouncement that CubCrafters was introducing the newly certified 'XCub.'